Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Bobo article
In reading the Bobo article, I found several points that I disagreed with. The main problem that I have with the article is the unfair and ineffective argument against Spielberg. She states that Spielberg is the main reason that the female characters lack three dimensionality and that the structure of the film ruins the power of the book. She points to the "awkward structure of the film" and states, "The moments of humor in the film provide comic relief, but the abrupt cut from the dramatic to the comic neutralizes its moments of power." In regards to both of these points, it appears that she did not take notice of the fact that Spielberg did not write the screenplay, which was actually written by a Dutch-born screenwriter by the name of Menno Meyjes. As a film major, I realize that it is the director's job to take the screenplay and film the material included in it. Although the director has a lot of say of what happens in the project, he does not have much, if any, control over the structure of the film, he is simply filming the source material (screenplay). Thus, it is pointless to blame Spielberg for the awkward structure, lack of three-dimensional characters, and the film's "uneven" balance between humor and moments of despair--he is simply following the screenplay. Thus, I feel as though her argument is not completely effective. Also, she assumes that everyone has seen the film and talks about the characters without explaining who they are--what's up with that?
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thanks for this thoughtful post. the screen writer issue (as you astutely point out) and alice walker's green light is evaded by bobo. i do think the director has more power to shape a film and visualize the execution of a screenplay -- that is the director's job. yet he was working with other skilled professionals, actors that have to bring life to the dialogue, and editors/producers who also place their hands on the film. being a director is a huge undertaking, and they are the ones who get credit for a film hence the blame. but what i have been saying in my journal responses and what i also relayed in class is that shifting all that blame on speilberg is misguided and only deals with a portion of the issue at the expense of her not exploring other aspects that shaped the film negatively/positively. this was not an "auteur" project, wherein a critique such as bobo's might make it seem less rigid. when folks critique spike lee's first films -- since they were auteur projects -- it had much more grounding for shifting the blame or praise in in one lap. the color purple is a different animal and a product of a whole complex set of filmic relations and production for which speilberg is the part and not the whole.
ReplyDeletemany thanks for your engagement.